The Photographer
I grew up in Madras and was always inclined towards art, it's probably the one thing I never got bored of. I used to sketch all day in school and college, under my text books and records. The sketches were mood based and dark, I poured all my frustrations and strangeness in them. Photography was one of my subjects in college and I got to intern with a photographer for a few months, which turned into nearly a year of assisting. I learnt everything, from making chai and sweeping the floor but nothing to do with photography other than how to maintain equipment and back-up files. I was quite fascinated with flash photography and that led me to study it for a year in Ooty. I learnt all my technicals and promptly forgot it all — I call it muscle memory now — to just begin experimenting.
The Inspiration
I was inspired by surrealism and dadaism. My friend Shreyaa used to sketch intense dark visuals of creatures that were all mouth, teeth and lips.. She introduced me to Deviant Art, Tumblr and Photoshop. I grew up with billboards and magazines showcasing typical commercial visuals, models with fair skin and a happy or sexy disposition. I resolved to create very different imagery to this, which meant that I got very little work for the first four years. Thanks to the internet, I kept myself updated with changes in fashion and art photography, so I could see myself aligning to a more global outlook. I was looking at the works of Tim Walker and Gregory Crewdson, Annie Leibovitz, Prabuddha Dasgupta and Bharat Sikka. In their works I could recognise a very distinct voice that fascinated me. Their characters were multidimensional beings. I started to attend photo festivals and was introduced to works of Roger Ballen and Olivier Culmann, both exceptional in their style and character building. Roger Ballen's video "I fink you freaky" showed me that artists could jump mediums while retaining their visual language or changing it as per will when required and I started to create maps in my head of all the things I wanted to do.
At the moment I'm inspired by documentary imagery and art cinema. I saw Ronny Sen's Catsticks, which made me laugh, cry and feel so much more. I guess I'm inspired by imagery that makes me feel things. These days I spend a lot of time alone with my thoughts, riding my bike across the Goan landscape, and when an idea comes up, I stop, write it down and giggle to myself. I'm really good at entertaining myself, that's been a part of my process. I’m also inspired by fear of stagnation. I can’t keep creating the same kind of visuals, it needs to keep changing and evolving.
The Process
I keep a diary for ideas that float in my head. Some of them make it into my visuals. I like to sketch things out and create mood boards. I spend a lot of time on casting and looking for locations. During my first year in Bombay, I took a train every Sunday to town to explore the streets of Ballard Estate and Kamathipura. In my second year I started exploring Alibaug and the islands.. The locations and people I meet inspire a lot of my work.
The Practice
Through a lot of trial and error I came to acknowledge that it’s impossible to control every situation or shot. A big part of the work is to plan as much as I can and then let it happen and wait for the right moment. So the key for me is to create a team that works for each situation. I like working with different creatives. Recently I realised the need to limit myself in some situations from having a full team as it works best with just me and the muse. I’m responding more to the muse so it comes back to casting and art direction.
The Pandemic and Beyond
It was rather interesting for the first three to four months alone in my apartment in Bombay. Once the lockdown was over it hit me that I had nothing in Bombay other than work to hold me there any longer. The one thing that gives me a lot of hope is the curiosity to explore. I guess I’m also innately restless. This year I have a lot of personal work that’s taking shape. I started documenting women in the country who are creating exciting or inspiring work and I plan to develop that and travel around the country, I hope somebody will fund me! I’ve finally started shooting on film again so it’s all quite exciting at the moment.
Date 22-01-2021